Parking Lot Repaving

McNears Beach Park has reopened. All parking lot improvements are complete, including repaving, restriping, landscaping, and improving the safety of traffic entry and exit.

McNears Beach Park will be closed Tuesday, March 2 through Thursday, March 10 due to parking lot repaving construction. For safety, there is no public access to the park from March 2 to March 10. The park is expected to reopen on Friday, March 11.

Starting in September 2021, work will begin on the parking lot project at McNears Beach Park along San Pablo Bay in eastern San Rafael. The parking lot is being repaved for safety and to enhance visitor experiences. The improvement project will include fresh asphalt and wider entries to both the main lot and overflow lot. The project addresses deferred maintenance of the aging asphalt, which was originally paved in the 1970s.

• Press Release
• Parking Lot Design Rendering

On August 10, the Marin County Board of Supervisors approved a construction contractor bid from Bauman Landscape and Construction for $683,683. Project construction costs will be fully offset by $480,201 from the CA State Recreational Infrastructure Revenue Enhancement Program (RIRE) grant and the remaining amount from Parks Measure A funds.

Project plans for the McNears parking lot repaving project have been completed and approved. Improvements, which will take several months to complete, include fresh asphalt and wider entries to both the main lot and overflow lot, as well as upgrades to stormwater drainage, including bioretention planters, and irrigation systems and new low-water plantings of shade trees and shrubs..

McNears Beach Park is one of the most popular Marin County Parks facilities, drawing several thousand people per week during busy season. It features bayside recreational and picnicking opportunities and beautiful views. The 55-acre park at 201 Cantera Way has a summer swimming pool, easy carry-in access for kayaks and canoes, tennis courts, an accessible fishing pier, and is a designated trailhead on the San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail. It is surrounded by trees, turf areas, and a beach. In recent years Parks also completed structural repairs of the fishing pier with Parks Measure A funds. 

• Address deferred maintenance at the park.
• Improve traffic safety and improve visitor experience.
• Enhance stormwater drainage.

• Regrading and fresh asphalt
• Wider entries to main and overflow parking lots
• Bioretention planters
• Planting of low water trees and shrubs, including California natives

• 2020: Project planning begins
• 2021: Project design and construction bidding
• 2021–2022: Construction work